Creditcardfree's Personal Finance Blog

Today is much cooler, but the windows will have to stay closed because it is raining. I'm pretty sure the air will not kick on today, so it is close to being off.

I see several warm days in our future, so for now the a/c challenge is over. We managed to make it 8.5 days without air conditioning during the month of August. I guess we could say 9.5 since it won't run today...that's almost a third of the month!

My kids are back at school today with my oldest starting 6th grade at the middle school. The youngest is still in elementary. They will be riding different buses and leaving and arriving at different times. It seems strange already. Cost of the first day of school...$5.28 to go to breakfast with the neighborhood mom's.

I broke down yesterday and turned on the air conditioning for 12 hours. We were gone most of the day and when we returned it was 85 degrees in the house!! That is just too hot.

I turned it off this morning at 6am...probably could have turned it off sooner, but I wasn't awake!! It is still off, but I have shut all the windows, blinds and curtains. It is 81 degrees as of 1:30pm. We have all of our ceiling fans running as usual, but I may try turning on the whole house fan to see if I can at least get it to maintain the same temperature.

It will be warmer here for the next fews days. If I can't make it work for the rest of the day, the a/c will be back on for a few days until it cools down again.

For those of you counting...it has been 8.5 days without a/c! Almost a third of a month.

Thanks to this week's ebay sales, I have $24.04 more in my pocket!!

I have listed another 5 more items tonight. One already has a bid!! That is within a couple of minutes of listing the item.

I will have several more items to list after Labor day. These will be primarily military items my husband no longer needs.

I would encourage anyone who hasn't tried ebay to check it out and consider selling something. I had more items sell than not. There is a learning curve, but it is well worth it! Best of luck if you do try it...and let us know of your successes.

We've had the a/c turned off almost 7 full days. We did turn it on one night when it was rainy and humid.

I can't wait to see the electric bill next month to see how much difference we can see.

The weather is going to heat up a bit more over the next five days...so by tomorrow afternoon the a/c may be back on.

About to spend a few hours in my basement, organizing the shelves! It will be even cooler down there. Maybe I'll have to find another project for next week and spend my afternoons in the basement. Then maybe the a/c could stay off!!

Organizing and decluttering, that is. It just kind of goes with this time of year for me. With school starting, it is important to go through all the clothes and shoes from last year.

I need to file some papers that are piling up in my "to file" pile. I'm sure half of these don't even need to be kept.

I'm also trying to come up with a new way to keep school papers organized for myself and the kids. Last year, I used a large magnetic clip for each child on the fridge for current papers that needed to be acted on. Then on a cabinet that sat next to the fridge I used file folders on a stand up rack. I just didn't like having that much paper out...so I'm still thinking what will work without losing track of everything. Any good ideas?

I also think I need to install decorative hooks by the front door for backpacks. It could double as a place for guest coats when not used for backpacks...see I would probably toss backpacks in coat closet when company comes.

Our house is pretty paired down when it comes to clutter, but I'm just trying to make sure we are using our space most efficiently. Like with like and things available near where we use them...rather than all spread out. I'm also thinking cleaning supplies are needed upstairs for the two bathrooms there, rather than all in the laundry/bath that is on the first level.

I recently acquired a over the door shoe holder. I have put it on the door to our basement...right next to the family room and on the way to the garage. Right now, it has bug spray, sunscreen, and extra school supplies. I'm on the lookout for things that would go well here. I guess it is okay if it is not FULL!!

Here's to an organized school year!!

We've had our air conditioning off for 4 days straight!! I love the fresh air. Thanks mother nature.

This mild weather with plenty of rain has been great for our pocket book. We have not had to water our yard and now can have the air conditioning off more days than I can ever remember.

I'm selling my daughter's jazz/hip hop shoes on ebay this week. I already have bids with numerous people watching. On zappos.com these shoes retail for about $40 with shipping. A pair the same size and style sold for about $20 on ebay last week....so I'm hoping for gold here!!

Now is the time to list fall school clothes, scout items, dance gear and other items associated with back to school. What back to school items are you selling?

We are still getting ready for the first day of school, just over a week away. Last week we made it to the orthodontist for head gear, eye exams for both girls and bought new sneakers.

At the orthodontist, I made the first of four payments on oldest daughters head gear. Each payment is $100. Dental insurance will pay 50%.

Eye exams for both daughters are covered in full by our insurance. Only one daughter has glasses. She did need a new prescription. We ended up getting frames at JCPenney's optical center for only $49!! This includes a warranty on the frames, too. I think I spent at least $150 last year on glasses, so I feel thrilled with this.

I'm sure I could have done better on shoes, by going to Payless shoes, but we ended up at Famous Footwear. I did get the 2nd pair at 1/2 price...but a total of $80 was spent on two pairs of sneakers. They should last most of the school year depending on growth. A side note here...my oldest daughter now has the same size feet as I do. We can share some shoes!! That will be a savings at times.

I also bought the girls each a new shirt. So far that is all the clothes that I have bought. I expect they have enough to wear for a few weeks before the weather gets cooler. I could be wrong about the weather though. It is already cool here. Only 80 degrees the last few days and expected for the next week, too. Yes, my a/c is OFF!!

Happy saving!

...about $20! My neighbor taught me to cut hair today. We cut both of my daughter's hair in preparation for school.

Both girls have pretty simple cuts...straight and no bangs. She had several good tools that made things easier. She has also cut her daughters hair for a few years now, so she has learned some tricks.

I already own scissors for hair, but need some clips, another type of scissors. She had a plastic cape, which would be nice, but a towel works, too!

I do own clippers so I could do my husbands hair, but those Army guys are a little particular on hair at times!!

What could you learn to save you money?

Did you get this $10 rebate form in with your coupons this weekend? Buy 10 qualifying Kellogg's/Keebler products and receive $10 rebate. They even included coupons for the items that qualified.

I don't do these too often. I went to Walmart to return an item and had them price match what the other stores had on sale.

I bought 11 items (needed an extra box of cereal).
$19.67 after price matches
($5.00) coupons
$14.67 out of pocket cost
($10.00) rebate
$4.67 final cost
$0.42 average cost per item

This is what I bought:
2 boxes Pop Tarts
3 boxes cereal
1 Keebler cookies
3 packages of fruit snacks
2 packages of gripz crackers

I feel pretty good about this purchase except that these are pretty unhealthy items. I will try to ration them with the kids!!

Sorry...it's been a few days since I stopped by to post. I've been helping my sister get ready and hold a garage sale.

I traveled a few hours away to help her price and set up. I even made the signs. I hauled my kids and the treasures they decided to sell, too. I brought my garage sale kit with stickers, markers, packing tape, index cards, markers, calculator, safety pins and fanny pack.

The sale was held on Friday and Saturday in the high heat of the midwest! Turn out was average for both days. We advertised in the local paper, side streets and online. We really wanted and needed more traffic.

The talk of the garage sale was that they (my sis and her husband) sold a 1987 Toyota MR2 for $1300 in cash. We didn't even advertise the car except in the lawn. Turns out the man who bought it used to work with my brother in law's dad 15 years ago!! What a small world.

Total take of sale, not including the car, was $410. Plenty of things left to sell next time and gobs of things to donate to charity.

So, I've been tired out. It was a busy and long four days. I think my sister was pleased and I was happy to be there to support her.

I'm back. I have more to say, so keep checking back for more news from this end.

Black beans, or any other legume, are inexpensive and nutritious. This is my favorite black bean dish. It makes enough for two people as a meal. I'd use would double it if I were serving it as a dip.

I like to use simple recipes like this to save money, time and energy. It's nice on a hot summer day, when I don't want to turn on the oven.

1 can black beans, drain and rinsed
1/3c. chopped red onion
2 TBS chopped cilantro
1/4c. crumbled feta cheese
1 TBS olive oil
1 TBS balsamic vinegar

Mix all together. Eat plain, in a tortilla, or with tortilla chips. Yum!!

Let me know if you like it!

This months goal was to put $385 towards home equity payoff. I will be short because of unexpected expenses.

Today I made a payment of $207.50 towards the loan. This is my biggest extra payment yet, so I can't get to upset at myself.

I will try again next month.

As I've stated in my blog title, I see our money as some we spend now and some that we spend later. We've done a fair amount of spending as of late. A newer Honda Odyssey is now filling our garage along with four new bikes, helmets and a bike rack. We don't regret any of it. We've had quite a bit of fun getting to know our local trails and landscape.

After all that spending, I'm feeling inspired to do some frugal things. My husband is apparently on board with this, too. I mentioned last week that he discovered driving to work through town on side roads saves him 15 miles of driving vs. the 30 miles on the interstate around town.

He started last week with a full tank and instead of draining it in full, he ended the week with just under half a tank! Wow, what a difference. We estimate that he will only need to fill the tank three times a month vs. four. That saves us about $50 a month. He seems pretty excited that he figured this out on his own. I'm proud of him, too!

So, what am I doing to be frugal? The other day I found myself using the empty bag my bulk purchase of paper towels came in to empty the cat's litter box. I usually grab a brand new trash bag for this task.

I also bought a bag of black beans instead of several cans. I have yet to use these, but I have a great frugal recipe for these that I will share later this week. I love black beans!

I also discovered another frugal site that looks promising. It is

Many Friday nights our family loves to eat pizza. The kids love cheese or pepperoni. DH & I like lots of meat, mushrooms and onions. We often have a glass of wine or two.

There is just something about pizza that signals that it is the weekend. I even look forward to these in the summer, but much more during the school year.

Pizza ordered in or eaten out can be quite expensive. On the occasions that we do eat out...we use a coupon to lessen the expense.

But the usual for us is homemade pizza. Yes, I use prepackaged crust...just adding the water at home. We buy the cheese on sale and often in bulk. A little ground beef and an onion. The cost is generally less than $8 for two pizzas. Even with a bottle of wine we are around $15.

We love our homemade pizza better than almost any take out. We can adjust the music, the lighting, the temperature and the entertainment to our liking. What could be better?

Have a fabulous Friday night!

I changed some settings on my dishwasher. I no longer have it set to "sanitize." I think it puts the dishes through an extra rinse. It seems to get them just as clean and in a shorter period time...and with less water.

I've also had good success putting a dry towel in with the wet clothes in the dryer. It does seem to shorten the time it takes to dry them.

I've been turning off the A/C much more frequently. I had it off all of yesterday, last night and until about noon today. That has to save some energy.

One habit I wish to work on is our ceiling fans. I usually leave the bedroom ones on 24/7. I don't think we really need those running unless we are in there. Now to retrain to children!!

Today was a no spend day. I should try to have several of those in the next few days. We did swing by the library. I checked out books on organization, recycling and green cleaning.

I've always loved organizing and could probably make it a business. It is interesting how the more organized one is, the less money is spent on late fees, and double purchases.

I think the more I learn about green cleaning the more I will save financially,too. I think it comes down to baking soda and vinegar for many things. Has anyone else noticed habits changing because of environmental reasons?

And...just so you know I don't really believe in global warming...but I don't like to see good things be thrown in the trash to be preserved forever in a landfill. I find that to be such a waste.

I really want to make an extra home equity loan payment of $385 this month. I think it will be less. As of now, I only have $100 in our regular checking account. I need to buy groceries for the next 8 days for 4 people. It seems other things could come up, too.

The $385 is there...it is even in another checking account. I may need to use some money from it to cover the rest of the month's needs. These needs primarily being groceries and gas.

Good news, I will be helping my sister with her garage sale the first weekend in August. I will take a couple of bins full of stuff to try to sell. I also need to get moving on some ebay sales. Now is the time that people are looking for school clothes.

My girls are set on backpacks and school supplies. Next month we will get sneakers, haircuts and a few school clothing basics. We only have 4 weeks left of summer.

Other good news, it looks like I can have the A/C off most of the day today! I think that is at least the 5th time this July! Amazing weather.

I don't know why I titled it that. I'm adding a little more cash towards the home equity loan payoff.

I received a mysurvey check for $10.00 and the Lowe's paint rebate check for $15.00. So, I'm making an online payment tonight for $25.00. This will bring our new balance below $15,500!! Every bit counts right?

I expect to make a larger extra payment by the end of the month. Can't wait to see it get below $15,000!! We'll see if I can get there this month.

On another note...

We live in the NW corner of our city and DH drives 30 minutes to the SE corner. He usually takes the interstate. Just seems to be the quickest way. Tonight he experimented with his route by driving through the city. The time was about the same, but he cut the miles in half. Instead of 30 miles on the interstate it was 15 miles through town!! Wow, that might save us at least $30 a week in gas. I'll try to keep you updated on this, too.

We planted an 8 x 8 foot garden this year with onions, lettuce, tomatoes (regular & cherry), green beans, and peppers. The garden is doing pretty good. We've had quite a bit of rain, so it's been pretty easy to keep up.

We have pulled some of the green onions for tacos and salsa. The cherry tomatoes keep ripening with black spots...so we aren't eating those.

The lettuce went to our neighbors indoor rabbit. It was a bit bitter. I guess you are suppose to cut the leaves down once before you start to harvest. We'll see if anything grows back this late in the season.

We pulled about 25-30 green beans off the plants as we pulled weeds last night. I'm sure we will try them tonight.

Oh, I forgot...I have mint and cilantro in containers on the deck. Those are doing pretty well too. We've used a fair amount of both.

I'm sure I've saved a little bit of money, but I haven't exactly calculated it out. I did have to invest in topsoil, poultry fencing and the seeds & plants at the beginning of the season. But it is well worth it for the fresh taste.

The girls love to go out and harvest anything I ask. No hesitations. They even like pulling the weeds. I'm liking it so much, I almost wish I planted more!!

There is always next year!

I recently received an email from a online photo processor for a great discount. I paid a penny for up to 50 prints, plus shipping. This is a great deal considering I rarely print pictures anymore.

Normally, this company has prints for 9 cents each. So, I saved 8 cents per print or a total of $4.00. The shipping was $3.47.

The email, of course, gave me a limited time to take advantage of this offer. They send me them fairly frequently, too, since I'm registered on their site for free. This time the timing was just right for me. I needed some prints anyway for my daughter's scrap booking project.

It does pay to sign up and register at various sites to be included in special promotions. Just make sure you don't take them up on all of them!!

Update, did plenty of ETE today. That is Erase the Evidence for those of you just tuning in. My sister is coming for the weekend...so I had to tidy up and erase the evidence in numerous areas of the house. Looks very nice now!!

I checked my retirement account today because I heard the market was up the last two days. Well, I'm glad I didn't look before. It is still bad.

My roth account alone is down 8.5% since I last checked in on May 19th of this year. The whole account since the beginning of the year is down about 13%.

The positive side in all of this is that I'm 35 and don't need this money for the next 30 years or more. I'm also still investing each and every month. My next automatic investment is scheduled for next week. Looks like my shares are still on sale for a while longer. Yipee!!

So, since I peeked you don't need to...it's not that good yet. But keep investing the shares are still on sale.

Yesterday, we went to Radio Shack to get the DTV converter for our 2nd TV, that we have in our bedroom. I had the $40 coupon and it would have expired today.

So, the converter was originally $59.99 minus the $40 coupon. It should have been only $19.99. However, I fell for the 1 year replacement for another $5.99. My husband said we didn't need it. My brain was thinking that if it stopped working in a year, I would have to pay the full $60. But really, how often do these things stop working? (I mean the converter, not my brain!!)

I think I will see if I can get it refunded. If it does go out in a year, I will probably put the $60 on a newer digital TV instead...or even go with out our 2nd TV. I have cash for these things, I really don't need insurance on a little box I paid $20 for.

I must be going crazy!

On another note, I made our regular home equity payment today. The total amount that went to principal was $24.10! That is up $0.60 compared to the amount that went to principal from last month's regular payment.

UPDATE: Radioshack did refund my money for the replacement insurance because I was within 30 days of purchase. Yes!!

van payment. I've been driving this van for almost 6 weeks and loving every minute of it.

But now, with the payment due today I feel a little dread. This will probably come up every month for me. I just don't like payments of any kind. Of course, I do have some that I understand I will always have, such as utilities. Someday, that is all the bills I would like to have.

So, this new van payment will be auto deducted from our checking account. I signed up right away. I didn't even get a paper statement in the mail. I signed up that quickly! If I have to make a payment to anyone, I love automatic payments. No possibility of missing the due date and incurring extra fees. No stamps to buy. And, it happens the same time every month...no surprises.

Today is payday, too. I expect to be able to start making regular exta payments to the home equity loan now. I'll update on that later.

So, I've been looking through the Sunday ads. School supplies are available already! My kids still have six weeks of summer left.

The good deals I noticed are:

Office Depot

12pk eraser caps $0.01
protractor $0.01
2 pocket paper folder $0.01
ruler $0.01
1 inch 3 ring binder $0.99
6pk highlighters $0.99

Walmart

70 sheet spiral notebook $0.05
4oz Elmer's glue $0.22
2pk Elmer's glue sticks $0.22
24 count Crayola crayons $0.22

Talk about cheap!! Those are some very basic items almost every child needs. There are deals out there, so keep your eyes peeled!

I know my kids are going to need new sneakers for school and a few other basic clothes. I don't usually buy too many clothes before school, unless they are a really great deal. It's still hot for at least the first 6 weeks of school...so I can get the fall clothes on clearance when the time comes.

One daughter will need new underwear and additional socks are also good to stock up on this time of year.

I'm thinking of investing in better backpacks this year, too. I usually buy the $10 backpacks at Target every year, but by the end you can see light through the bottom. These then just get tossed in the landfill! It might be better to spend and extra $20 more to get quality backpacks that could last several years. What do the rest of you do in this area?

I sent in $9.62 to the home equity loan yesterday. Our new balance is $15,543.42.

The money is a result of a couple dollars left in the checking account before payday, a small amount of interest ($0.11), and atm rebates.

Because our bank is not local they reimburse us up to $15 for any atm fees we incur during a month. We have found a local convenience store that we can obtain cash from without any fees. This month we did a little traveling outside of town and ended up with $7.50 in fees.

Nice cool day here in the midwest after some days in the 90's with lots of humidity. We will have the A/C off all weekend!!

I went to garage sales today with my sister. I spent $7.25!

However, I didn't need any of these things...not one of them. This is what I bought:

Roll O Puzz for uncompleted puzzles $1.00
Walkie Talkies $1.00
Glass Jar with flip top lid $0.50
New clear shower curtain rings $0.25
Magic Math for learning math facts $0.50
Designers World game for kids $4.00

So, I just wasted $7.25...well, maybe not wasted. I know my kids will get some use out of several of the items. But did they need them? I may save the Designer's World game for Christmas. This item retails for about $30, but it can be found on sale for $20.

I think I'm better at selling things at garage sales then buying. I must say I did pass up quite a bit of nice things!!

I haven't used this calculator yet, but I heard about it on the Today show this morning. If you are thinking of trading in your SUV for a hybrid or other fuel efficient car you may want to check it out

We have taken advantage of the Lowe's rebate on Valspar paint this weekend. $5 a gallon adds up when one is buying three gallons! We also qualified for the 10% military discount as well.

Today, we are marathon painting. Our kitchen, living room and a hallway are all getting a new coat of paint. I'm on a break from the first coat and it is only 2:15, so I think we'll be on track to get it all done today!

We painted these three rooms about 15 months ago...but turns out we didn't really like the color. It was an improvement over what we had before...but it just wasn't right. So, now we are repainting. This time I think we have it right. We've used this paint color before...in our family room. This will be the last time we have to paint these rooms before we move in 2.5 years.

At least, it was on sale. I've noticed Lowe's and Home Depot always seem to have paint rebates on Memorial Day, Forth of July, and Labor Day!

By the way, WALL-E was really good. Keep in mind that there is a side theme about the environment, but the relationship the two robots develop is beautiful! Oh, my 8 year old cried at a movie for the first time yesterday!! Too cute.

I have achieved a No Spend Day (NSD)!!

I'm sure I've had others but today I noticed we didn't go anywhere and we didn't spend any money. Love it!!

Working on packing for our Olympic trip by getting laundry done and making last minute lists. We are only going to be gone one night, so luckily it won't take to much to get it all together. We will be at home for lunch and then will pack a picnic at my Mom's for dinner prior to seeing the races!

All other food will also be provided by Mom and Dad on the 4th! We even get steak!! Other than gas and a couple on the road snacks we won't spend much until Saturday.

Saturday, is my daughter's birthday. She will be picking out her first pet...expected to be a hamster. Those are about $15. She will get to pick out the pet, the wheel and it's food dish...all the other items have been bought or we already have on hand.

It has become tradition to see a movie on our birthdays, too. We will go to an afternoon showing of WALL E. That will be about $25 for the tickets and then we'll tack on a soda for a several dollars more. We might also fit in a dinner out. What does she like that is cheap...I'll have to see! Then, I hope to be done spending for the weekend.

Yep, I'm kicking the home equity loan with another $12.00. This is interest from our money market account for this month. Can't wait until rates go back up!!

I also sent away for another $10 mysurvey check. It will be here in a few weeks. It will also go to the loan payoff.

My daughter turns 8 on Saturday. This means a $1 increase to her monthly allowance. The girls receive $1 for every year old they are. So, starting this month I pay out $19.00 instead of $18.00! I should teach them to save their increases...hmm, I wonder if that would go over?